Three Become One
by LittleMewLugia
Summary: When Alpha Trion remakes Orion Pax, he decides to try an untested idea. However, as with all new techniques and programming, there is an element of risk involved.


Three Become One.

Summary: When Alpha Trion remakes Orion Pax, he decides to try an untested idea. However, as with all new techniques and programming, there is an element of risk involved.

Continuity: G1

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers or any of its canon characters. I gain no monetary benefit from doing this.

A/N: This idea was sparked after reading KDZeal's story/ficlet "Part of None" and later watching the Generation1, Season 2 episode "War Dawn.

1 orn=13 days, 1 joor=6.5 hours, 1 breem=about 8 minutes.

Three Become One.

9 million years ago, Cybertron.

When Alpha Trion went out of his door, he was surprised and a bit nervous to find five flying types waiting for him. He wondered who they were, for he had never seen any of them before. He was also surprised but gratified to note that they all had a clear symbol of Autobot allegiance on their person, a pleasant surprise because most flying types seemed to gravitate towards Megatron's Decepticons, Megatron being a flying type himself.

His Spark flickered however when he noticed the limp figure two of them gently carried between them. It appeared to be a young dock worker, like many Alpha Trion had seen injured. Alpha Trion told them, with regret, he could not help them: he already had too many damaged mechs and not enough spare parts. He suggested they take him to the next city instead.

The fliers who had brought him, however, were not just going to leave, and after he scanned the young mech, who was called Orion Pax, he thought that the young mech had a strong Spark, and that alone was a good reason to at least try to repair him.

The strange fliers extracted a promise from him that he would repair Orion Pax. He explained that it was a job that would involve a complete rebuild: the damage Megatron had caused the docker was internal and hidden from optics as well as external. but with such a strong Spark, he had an idea.

When Alpha Trion got back inside, he lay Orion's broken frame on a workable, wondering where to start. He checked the damage, and found it as extensive as he had expected, but was gratified to find the Spark was still bright and alight in the damaged mech's chest.

Then he checked what he had, for supplies were scarce, difficult to get in or out due to Decepticon activity and blockades. He found he had just about enough internals and wiring and cogs to build one medium-large mech body, but he had a dilemma: three mechs that he wanted to rebuild, the other two, coincidentally, also being dock workers.

Both Rigger and Loader were older than Orion, both committed to the work they undertook. He had promised the fliers that he would rebuild Orion, so the other two would have to wait, but he did not know for how long.

Then he had an idea, casting his mind back to a conversation, that although it was some time ago, he could remember with absolute clarity. He had been talking to a scientist, and had expressed his frustration over too few skills spread over too many mechs.

"If some of them could somehow combine with each other, join their bodies and minds into one big mech, they'd be big enough to take and deal damage, and have all the skills available in one place!"

"Technically, Sir, it is doable, getting the bodies to combine would require some design changes and new programming, and creating a gestalt mind is practicable in theory too, we enter a form of partial gestalt when transferring data," the scientist had said.

At the time, they had discussed how to turn theory into practice, and then moved on from the discussion, and no attempt had been made. He'd only been partially serious then, there were too many risks with an untested hypothesis, even if the theory was sound, but times were more desperate, and they were now at war.

Orion's body was already mostly complete, so he could be the gestalt leader, and Alpha Trion put the young mech aside carefully, to work on Loader and Rigger.

Loader he planned to be the smallest of the mechs, his body had extensive damage but his Spark was still strong. He gave him a small, wheeled platform that could move about, ambulatory, with visual processing, a mobile camera, a claw to pick things up with, and a gun to defend itself. He also gave it strong armour, like a tank, for they were in a war situation. He renamed him Roller, and checked with the mech in question that it understood this would only be a temporary form, until more supplies came in. Roller seemed to have no problems with that, so Alpha Trion put him in recharge, and began to rebuild Rigger.

He had chassis and wheels, but no more motors, but he had an idea about getting around that anyway. He chose a large chassis, and built Rigger onto it, with a communications array, a grabber claw, and a weapon, a double laser, for again in a war situation, every mech should be armed, even if their appearance was unconventional.

With a working communications array, the gestalt mind, or even the individuals, should be able to communicate with other Autobots, even over a distance.

He built armoured walls onto the chassis, and a strong roof, making the whole structure capable of opening out flat so that Rigger could do his stuff. In trailer form, Rigger could hold Roller and several other mechs inside, if need be.

Then he added a tow bar, for if Rigger could not move independently, it would be up to Orion to take him to and from where he was needed.

He checked with Rigger - he kept that one's name - as he had with Roller, reassuring the confused mech that the form was temporary, and once Rigger understood that, he calmed down. Placing the remade mech into recharge as well, he turned to Orion, lifting him onto the worktable.

He looked him over. As his processors would support the gestalt mind, he would need a larger head, with larger communications antennae, and if he was going to be pulling Rigger's trailer behind him, he'd need a bigger body in general, with a powerful vehicle form. He would need to expand and strengthen the mech's chassis, make Orion a new body, bigger, stronger, and more heavily armoured than his previous body. Alpha Trion had become more skilled at putting together war builds, a skill he regretted being necessary.

Putting these regrets aside, and picking up a welding tool, he bent to the task at hand.

oOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

A few joors later, Alpha Trion was done, and quite pleased with the result, but he sobered as he remembered he still had to put the trio into a gestalt, using a method he'd only heard theorised would work. The result of failure could range from nothing at all, right up to the loss of the minds and sparks of all concerned. He was in unchartered territory, using a secondhand theoretical method.

He had briefly roused Orion to get his permission for the gestalt, and he had given it, but begged Alpha Trion to save Ariel. Alpha Trion had promised he would try, and sent out a drone to find her body and bring it to him. If she in any way lived, he would try to recover and revive what he could of her.

He had run a few tests, finding that their minds had more similarities than differences, which should be an aid with compatibility. The theories of the consequences of incompatibility ranged from no gestalt to a multiple personality or insane gestalt mind, but again, this was all theoretical, which was a fancy way of saying that in reality, nobody had a clue.

Well, it seemed that he was about to find out.

He connected their processors, using electrodes in the casing housing their CPUs, because gestalts had never been performed before, so they would need help, at least at first. Theoretically (again) the effect should be replicable after the first attempt, but who really knew? Nobody. He hoped the theory was correct, because it would be helpful if combiner 'bots could initiate the gestalt themselves.

He threw the switch.

Each form quivered a bit as the merge commenced, then relaxed, and Orion's new body opened his optics, but more than Orion stared out at Alpha Trion.

"Who are you?" He asked. "Who am I?"

"My name is Alpha Trion," he replied. He had, fortunately, already thought up a name for the gestalt mind, or 'overmind'. "And your name...your name is Optimus." He looked on this new creation fondly, this combination of three mechs, who was the first of his kind, but hopefully not the last. The first of his kind...

"Your name is Optimus Prime," he told the mech, with more conviction in his voice.

"My name is Optimus Prime?" He repeated, the query audible in his voice, and then he nodded. "My name is Optimus Prime." There was none of the query in his vocal tone this time, and more certainty.

Alpha Trion gave a sigh of relief. He had expected some confusion, in fact had expected, and been prepared for, worse, and this had gone better than his greatest hope, athough he was very much aware that it was early days.

The fliers had waited for Orion to be repaired, seeming strangely concerned for the young mech they admitted they had only just met.

He had called out and announced Optimus Prime to them, who had apologised for his naivety, as Orion, about Megatron.

"He is the first of our new defenders," Alpha Trion told them, for the gestalt had worked so well, he was eager to repeat the process with others.

It had been most puzzling to Alpha Trion. When he introduced and named Optimus Prime to the fliers, he thought he saw something in their optics and expressions, but no, he had to have been mistaken, for how could they have recognised Optimus when he, Alpha Trion, had only built him a few joors earlier?

They volunteered to go with Optimus to fight Megatron and his Decepticons, to stop him using the energy for nefarious purposes of his own, and for some reason it was personal, Alpha Trion knew a grudge when he saw one!

When Optimus Prime returned, it was without the fliers. "They were in the building when it blew up, but I searched, and found no traces of any sort of remains. I don't know how they did it, but they foiled Megatron, and they got away. I feel sure that one day I will meet them again," he said.

Alpha Trion, too had a strange feeling that he would, one day, meet them again as well. He only hoped it wouldn't be by rebuilding any of them, he had lost and rebuilt too many friends since the war began.

oOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

He put Ariel's body on his worktable and examined her. She seemed mainly intact, but he was not sure how much of her original processors and memories had survived. He found her Spark was still alight, and built her a bigger version of her own body, armoured her more heavily, gave her a greater processor space, and re-named her Elita-One. She did not command her own gestalt, although he couldn't rule that out in the future, but he pretty much saw her as Optimus Prime's femme counterpart.

He took Optimus through the gestalt process, to Orion, Roller, and Rigger and back to Optimus several times until he was sure Orion had the hang of initiating and ending the gestalt. While they were out of gestalt, he reassured Roller and Rigger that he was already planning them new builds, more like his own and Orion's, like they were used to when he had the parts needed. However, soon the Decepticons began to get more troublesome, and he had to send Optimus Prime out to help deal with the consequences.

Optimus, and Elita-One, soon began to be Alpha Trion's go-to people for foiling Megatron's plans. Optimus in particular seemed to have what amounted to an instinct for Megatron's plans and how to foil them. He saved many lives, but he could not be everywhere. His actions did, however, make a difference:needed parts began to trickle past the Decepticon blockades.

As Alpha Trion began to get parts, but Optimus needed to stay in the field, he began putting parts aside for Rigger and Roller's new bodies. However, he realised, he needed more help, and set about trying to get it by building and creating new combiners.

Some started out like Optimus, with one main gestalt mech and two or three with reduced function, but as supply lines were opened up and blockades breached, he began to get more supplies, and was able to start creating gestalt combiners with four or five average sized mechs. Much of this was down to Optimus, who seemed to have the talent and charisma to gather loyal soldiers to his side who would fight with and for him. As Alpha Trion sent out a few more gestalts, it became obvious that it was helping.

He had not forgotten his promise to Roller and Rigger, on the contrary, he put the best parts aside for them, and was beginning to build the new bodies. However, he concentrated most of his efforts on constructing new mechs and creating new gestalts. If he was going to bring the Optimus gestalt in to give Rigger and Roller new bodies, and maybe modify Orion's too, they would need to be relieved by another.

He planned to have enough gestalt teams available to swap them out every six orns. The Optimus gestalt had been out so far for nine orns, and he decided once the next two gestalt teams were built and ready, he would call in the Optimus gestalt to rebuild Roller and Rigger, and give them all, situation allowing, a nice long rest.

However, before he reached that objective, there were two separate events that happened with two of the gestalts.

One of them, Formattor, had been a group who were not as compatible mentally as Alpha Trion hoped. It didn't stop them attaining the gestalt, but it did made it more difficult. However, one day, in mid-battle, Formattor dropped out of gestalt, losing their combiner body and having to flee as individuals, which they barely achieved alive. Alpha Trion attempted twice to help them reach gestalt again and failed, finally admitting defeat when two of them threatened to walk out if he persisted in trying. All four mechs were otherwise unharmed, and he sent them back out to fight as individuals with another gestalt mech leading the group.

The second incident was far more worrying, and far more serious, although it seemed to be the opposite problem to Formattor's. Where the mechs who made Formattor's gestalt had had disparate, sometimes opposing, streams of thought, Kilofight's gestalt was made of three mechs whose minds were second in compatibility only to those of Orion, Roller, and Rigger.

The problem was that Kilofight, as the gestalt mind was called, did not seem to remember that it was a temporary gestalt of three separate minds. It seemed unaware that the three mechs existed as separate entities, or even that they existed at all. Upon further judicious questioning, it became obvious that Kilofight had not separated into it's three constituent parts for some time. Alpha Trion immediately lay Kilofight down, dropped him into recharge, and broke the gestalt using the electrodes.

He had not realised quite what the consequences of this would be, and what was happening to the minds of the mechs in gestalt. He didn't know if it was a fault in the programming, or simply the result of remaining in gestalt for an extended time for those with compatible minds, but all three were damaged when the gestalt was dissolved.

One almost died, his mind almost completely absorbed into the overmind. The other two seemed healthy enough physically, but clung to each other and cried, becoming violent if attempts were made to physically separate them. They had found entering and leaving gestalt easier than most, the opposite of Formattor, whose diverse mental patterns had eventually torn the gestalt overmind apart. He only had one team that was closer, and it had also been the longest away.

He opened his com.

"Alpha Trion calling Optimus Prime. This is a Status Blue. Return to me as soon as you can. This is not a drill."

"Acknowledged," Optimus replied.

'Status Blue' meant immediate return as soon as safely practicable, meaning Optimus would make sure he could withdraw safely (or finish) from a battle or espionage position, and then, as requested, return. The call made and acknowledged, Alpha Trion could do no more now but wait, and continue building the new bodies for Rigger and Roller.

Half an orn later, Optimus Prime came in and stood opposite him. Alpha Trion had mixed feelings about this. He was glad Optimus was back so swiftly, but would have been a lot happier if he had come in and immediately dissolved the gestalt. He did some working out in his head, and came to the conclusion that Optimus had been in active deployment for a shade over 13 orns, and his Spark flickered. They still didn't know if it was a glitch, the timing, a combination of both, or neither, but if time was a factor, and the Optimus gestalt mind had been active all this time...

"I have just been working on the new bodies for Roller and Rigger," he said, indicating the two almost complete bodies - one white with red, the other completely red - standing nearby.

"Roller and rigger?" Optimus echoed. "There is no damage to the Roller unit, or the rig, the armour is adequate. New bodies? I do not understand."

If Alpha Trion could have shivered, he would have.

"When did you last dissolve the gestalt?" he asked. Maybe the query would jog a few memories, help the three minds separate out.

"Gestalt?" Optimus queried.

"Never mind", Alpha Trion said. "You say you are not damaged, but I would prefer to be the judge of that. Lie down, I wish to check you, and carry out any repairs you may, no, will need," he said, his sharp optics spotting still-repairing damage on the Orion body. "It looks like the Decepticons are improving their aim."

"There are more of them, and it is impossible to dodge every shot," Optimus said. "Enough hit me that it seems to make them happy, but not enough to take me down. Your work is, as usual, excellent."

"You will still need to be in the best condition possible if you are to continue to fight them, especially if they are becoming more numerous. Lie down and shut up, and let me work, I will repair you."m

Optimus acquiesced, lying down, and Alpha Trion put him into a deep recharge, placing the electrodes on the Orion body, Roller, and the CPU casing of Rigger, and was about to break the gestalt artificially, when he stopped, thinking of the disastrous effects that had had on the individual mechs who had made up the gestalt Kilofight. Those, the computer thought, might eventually be able to recover some, but never fully, and Alpha Trion didn't know if it was the shock of the gestalt being dissolved, or another factor that had caused the damage.

He decided to run a scan of the processor activity of the three CPU's, the Sparks of the three mechs, and the activity of the gestalt mind, displaying the information on different areas of the screen. In the centre there were four feeds, one for each CPU, and one for the gestalt mind. As the results came onscreen, the temperature in the room seemed to hit absolute zero.

Neither Roller nor Rigger seemed to have much individual brain activity left, even this deep into recharge there should have been more activity in their processors. Orion's seemed a bit stronger, but nothing close to the activity it had shown the last time he had performed this scan, either when separated or in gestalt. The gestalt mind, on the other hand, Optimus, appeared stronger and more healthy then ever.

Using the central computer, Alpha Trion ran a simulation of what the most likely outcome was if he broke the gestalt, and as the result scrolled onto the screen, he felt his CPU begin to seize up.

There was, according to available information, a 100% chance that neither Roller nor Rigger would survive the separation. Their autonomic systems had become synched to Orion's, and it was likely that all three would feel the pain if any one of them was struck. For Orion himself, he had a 40% chance of surviving the separation, but would likely be so badly damaged, partly from feeling the other two die - that he would be forever like a new spark, unable to fend for himself, nor even learn to. In peacetime, looking after one like that would have been difficult, but with the current war situation, that was tantamount to a death sentence.

No, it seemed that their very compatibility, which had seemed such a boon to begin with, had backfired, leaving him to decide if he should leave them, saving all three sparks, but only one mind, or to try separating them, and lose not just Optimus, but Roller and Rigger, and possibly Orion too.

No, he decided, best to keep Optimus than risk losing all of them, he decided, but as he disconnected the electrodes, he mourned the loss of the individual mechs, Roller, Rigger, and Orion Pax. Their Sparks were still alight, but their minds were forever lost. Something of their minds likely remained, or their Sparks would have gone, but what remained was likely to be primitive instinct only, defending against attack and attacking back, but no more than that.

He re-onlined the body that should have been Orion's, but was now Optimus' joors later, once he'd tenderly repaired each and every injury to the best of his ability. He was now likely as undamaged as when Alpha Trion had first built him.

"Optimus, you stated that the Decepticons had increased in number when you came in," Alpha Trion said to him.

"Affirmative," Optimus said.

"Then you must, yourself, amass an army to oppose him, Optimus, to swell the ranks of the Autobot army to stand against him," Alpha Trion stated. He raised a warning finger. "However, you must not use the Decepticon's underhanded tactics, thus your new recruits must be willing to join you, and understand the risks they face in doing so. You must not conscript, coerce or otherwise force people into your ranks, nor must you embellish or omit details. Remember, freedom is the right of all sentient beings, we cannot stand for freedom if we do not allow our troops the freedom to be there because they choose to be our troops, not because they feel they have to, or have been lied to to get them there."

"Agreed," Optimus stated, swinging his legs off the worktable.

"You need to lead the Autobots now, Optimus, out in the field, although you are free to return here any time, both you and your female counterpart," Alpha Trion stated.

"Understood," Optimus said. "I will find the fearful, the oppressed, the lonely, those who need our help, and those angry at the Decepticons. We will defend those who are unwilling or too fearful to fight, and train those who wish to fight, and release those who do not wish to fight or be protected. If they wish to join our ranks, they will be permitted, regardless of social standing before or during the war, as long as they have not committed unforgivable crimes."

"Two more things, Optimus, and these are important ,so listen carefully", Alpha Trion stated. "First, you will not remember, nor speak of the questions I asked you regarding Roller, Rigger, or the query I made to you about a gestalt." Optimus nodded, and so did Alpha Trion, knowing that the low-level hypnotic command he had earlier buried in the body's processors would make sure of this.

"The second thing is this: you will remember that no combiner 'bots that ever come into your group should remain in gestalt for any longer than it takes to complete the task they combined for. No exceptions." He said. Optimus looked puzzled, but nodded agreement.

"You should go now and begin to prepare, you and your troops have a war to win," Alpha Trion said. Optimus nodded again.

"Then farewell, Alpha Trion, until we meet again," he said.

"Don't go too far, I want you back soon, so stay in the general area," he said. "I may have some friends who can join you."

"Very well," Optimus said, and left the room.

Alpha Trion waited five minutes to be sure he had gone, and then went back to working on the bodies that should have been Rigger's and Roller's.

Well, there was no point in wasting them, and he already had plans for them.

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Alpha Trion found the two mechs, both two friends of his whom had fallen to this war. These were better off than some, but their bodies were almost completely slagged. The negotiator and the bridge builder had both spoken of getting new professions better suited to war work, before whatever had happened to them had happened, as negotiations had failed and bridges kept getting blown up before they were even completed. He had some data packages he could give them to help them learn essential skills for what he hoped they would be willing to do. He had only a little doubt, as it was, they had time and again shown great loyalty, both to himself and to the city.

He transferred their Sparks, and what memories and processors had survived into the new bodies, and downloaded the information packs to them to prepare them for their new lives. Then he put them in for a long recharge.

He woke them some 12 hours later, and checked them both, and both were functioning within normal parameters, and he commed Optimus Prime to come by in 2 breems. He turned to speak to the two 'bots.

"I owe the mech who will be here soon, Optimus Prime, a great debt that he does not and will not know of," he said, "and I would like it to be you who help me repay it."

He turned to the red mech.

"I expect you to stand by him, fight for him, put yourself in harm's way to save him, if need be, and fight by his side and take his orders. Will you agree to do this? You are free to refuse if you wish, to go elsewhere or do something else, if you choose not to take this option. I ask you again, will you do this?"

"Yes, I shall," the mech said. "I remember enough about you to trust you, and know there must be a good reason that you ask this."

"And you?" Alpha Trion asked the white and red mech. "Will you stand by him, but advise him if he is wrong, guide him even through his wrong decisions, and fix him up every time he gets damaged, even if it's his fault he is damaged in the first place? You are also not bound, your freedom is important too, will you do this, yes or no?"

"Yes, I will, and for the same reason as him", he said, jerking a thumb at the red mech. "But can I call him a glitch if I think he's acting like one?"

"You can call him what you want as long as you do as I have asked," Alpha Trion said, highly amused.

"Then I accept," the mech said.

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A short time later, Optimus Prime came in.

"You wanted to see me?" He asked.

"Yes, I have two more people who wish to join you'" Alpha Trion said. "They are wise old friends of mine, who have changed their professions to others better suited for this war."

He waved forward the two mechs.

"Optimus Prime, meet Weapons Specialist Ironhide, and Medic Ratchet."

A/N: Well, that's it, I hope you enjoyed it. A bit of a long-winded one for me, but I didn't think chapters would work for this, so one long one-shot it is. As I said, part of it was inspired by a story written by KDZeal, written after his friend, Xobit made a comment that his bunny was born from. I highly recommend his story, Part of None, which is pretty much short, in fact way shorter than mine.

Enjoy!


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